A brief background is that I grew up in PA and got my original driving privileges issued there via a PA Drivers License. After my high school graduation in 2003, I moved to Tampa, FL for college and established residency in Florida. At that point I was given a valid Florida DL and I have never had any issues with that license or have any marks on it. In 2008, I moved back to PA and went to the DMV to re-establish my residency in Pennsylvania. I told them I currently have a valid FL license and wanted to get my PA license back. They said no problem, took my license, punched a hole in it, gave it back to me, and said to me thats all and that I can pick up my new PA license card at the next window. After that I have periodically check the validity of my FL license on FL's driver license website and it currently is and always has been "VALID" with an expiration date in 2013.

Now the issue is that in July 2009 I was arrested in Philadelphia, PA. After going through the court system process the consequences of that arrest involve a program in PA called Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition (ARD). It is a program involving a period of probation with some other stipulations that at the end of the program enables you to have all charges and records expunged so your record is clean. One of the stipulations of the ARD program is a mandatory 60-day license suspension imposed by PennDOT (Pennsylvania Dept of Transportation). I received the letter from PennDOT telling me to turn my license in by the end of April to begin the suspension and I will do that. After my arrest in Pennsylvania I relocated back to Florida. My question is, since my FL license is still valid and I am now living in Florida, will I be safe using my FL driving privileges here in FL. I called my probation officer in Philadelphia and he told me that he isn't taking my FL license, he cant answer for FL privileges, and not to drive "up that way" referring to the State of Pennsylvania. I know I do need to get a new drivers license card from FL and I can order one using their website so it will be sent to me via US Mail. I am not trying to play the system and thats why I specifically asked my probation officer, but after hearing his answer I feel like since my FL privileges are valid and the fact that I am living in FL then I just might be safe using my FL license from now on and continue driving after the PennDOT suspension starts. Please help me out. I appreciate your input very much. Any questions you have I will answer as quickly as I can. Thanks very much!

They said no problem, took my license, punched a hole in it, gave it back to me, and said to me thats all and that I can pick up my new PA license card at the next window. After that I have periodically check the validity of my FL license on FL's driver license website and it currently is and always has been "VALID" with an expiration date in 2013.

If your FL driver's license has a hole punched in it, it is INvalid regardless of what the website says. In other words, you get pulled over, you hand that FL license to the officer, and the response you'll get is "this license is not valid"...

If you were to go to the FL DMV to get a replacement, then you can bet they will find out about your PA license (see NDR link below). If at the time you do go there your PA license is suspended, then they will find out about that as well. Even if they do not find out at the time you request an FL replacement, PA & FL are BOTH members in the Driver License Comapct (DLC) AND the Non Resident Violator Compact (NRVC) which requires both states to report suspensions/revocations and some serious violations to other member states. All that is aside from the status of your license being reported on the National Driver Register (NDR). So regardless of how you look at it, a license suspension in PA means that your driving privilege is suspended and as such, most, if not all states will honor that suspension and thereby, can cite you for driving while suspended.

Last but not least, most states forbid a driver from holding more than one state license (probably the reason why PA punched a hole in you FL license thereby deeming it as invalid). Whether that applies for FL and/or PA, I am not sure!

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